With regard to the $1.6M street re-surfacing project on PCH and Laguna’s residential streets, and the on-going $10K change-order for striping and final adjustments, now would be a good time to recall the updated policy from Caltrans, California’s Department of Transportation. It says, “The Department views all transportation improvements as opportunities to improve safety, access, and mobility for all travelers in California and recognizes bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes as integral elements of the transportation system.”

This means even small paving projects are an opportunity to make small adjustments to better accommodate all travelers, such as shifting striping to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, or in the case of Laguna Beach, providing the stripes in the first place.

Today, virtually all the streets planned for re-surfacing are finished, while the DOT policy goes ignored. Further, the status quo argues that the “Complete Streets” policy mandated by the State doesn’t apply until Jan. 1, 2011, so CS policy can be safely ignored until then.

With the prime interest rate hovering at zero, I will argue it is better to comply with “Complete Streets” policy yesterday than it will be tomorrow.